Roadtrippin'

(for english, scroll down)
I weekenden 16-17 marts blev der fejret St. Patricks Day i SF, og det er ret stort her. Jeg var i byen og fejre det, og tænkte på hvad jeg gik glip af derhjemme - min nieces 1 års fødselsdag og mit band Rovers Ahead der spillede koncert i Kbh. Derudover forberedte jeg lidt hvad der skulle ske i dagene hvor Merete, min søster kom på besøg imens jeg havde ferie.
Hun var her i 10 dage og ankom d. 21. men var 14 timer forsinket pga. Air Canada, så jeg begyndte med det samme at vise hende rundt i byen. Det var virkelig godt at se hende igen, og de første 3 dage var vi i SF og fik bl.a. set Mission, Castro, Golden Gate Park & Bridge, Chinatown, Alcatraz, Twin Peaks, Dolores Park, sporvogn, Telegraph Hill, og til drag show. Den første aften var vi på Glide til Men in Progress, arrangøren havde nemlig foreslået at jeg kunne tage Merete med derind, så hun kunne se hvad det var og alle deltagerne tog godt imod hende. Bagefter tog vi til koncert med The Aggrolites (reggae band fra LA) sammen med Kelley. Vejret var perfekt og heldigvis var min dårlig planlægningskarma periode overstået, så vi fik nået at se en masse ting. Om søndagen, den 24. tog vi i Glide-kirken om morgenen - det var helt specielt med taler, live band, og rigtig god stemning. Det var første gang jeg var i kirken, så det var meget godt at se denne del af Glide også.
Efter Glide tog vi ud og hentede bil som jeg havde booket, slog taget net og kørte sydpå ad Highway 1 mod LA med sol i ansigtet og vind i håret. Det er vildt lækkert at køre i sådan en bil, og især på Big Sur (kysten mellem SF og LA) hvor der er utrolig smukt. Vi så solnedgang over stillehavet og overnattede på motel cirka en time nord for LA. To af vores mål under turen var også at spise på rigtig amerikansk diner og bo på usselt motel, og denne aften fik vi slået to fluer med ét smæk.
Næste morgen kørte vi ind til LA og hentede Natasja og Julie (som jeg læser sammen med i Kbh og som er i praktik i San Diego) og kørte til Six Flags. Six Flags er en meget vild forlystelsespark som ligger lidt udenfor LA, og der brugte vi det meste af dagen, så lækkert. På vejen ind mod LA for at sætte pigerne af fik vi lige set Hollywood og fik hilst på selveste Michael Jackson og Johnny Depp. Hver gang vi kørte rundt i LA var vi heldige med at der kun var trafikprop i den modsatte retning - vi frygtede ellers det værste for folk taler om hvor forfærdelig trafikken er i LA. Vi overnattede et par timer fra LA på vejen mod Grand Canyon, og dagen efter kørte vi resten af vejen til GC. Det var utrolig smukt, og vi var igen heldige med vejret og timing, for da vi kørte derfra mod Vegas kunne vi se solnedgang.
I Vegas var vi heldige at få svar fra en couchsurfer lige idet vi var ved at kigge efter motel, så vi kunne overnatte hos ham i udkanten af byen. Efter vi havde 'checket ind' hos ham kørte vi ind til byen og gik en lille tur på The Strip, og kørte ned ad Las Vegas Blvd hvor alle deres monster hoteller med casinoer og circus ligger, og ikke mindst Wedding Chapels. Vores couchsurfing vært fik vi ikke snakket meget med, men til gengæld var han en meget hærdet CSer, da han havde indrettet to værelser i sit hus til gæster, og der hang en tavle hvor man kunne skrive en hilsen, og vi var gæstehold nummer 274. Fra hans tagteresse kunne man se ind over LV downtown, og der kunne man virkelig få indtryk af hvordan der nærmest kun er hoteller med kasinoer, og rundt om alm. beboelse som ligger midt ude i ørkenen - meget underlig by.
Dagen efter kørte vi ned til Hoover Dam og gik en tur og tog billeder. Det var interessant at se den nye motorvejsbro færdig, for da jeg var her i 2009 og kørte forbi, tog jeg billeder af den halvfærdige bro, og eneste passage var selve dæmningen hvor der kun er et spor i hver retning. Nu bliver den oprindelige hovedvej kun brugt til turister der skal ned og se på dæmningen, men det virker som om der er mindst lige så meget kø. Efter Hoover Dam kørte vi i Outlet shoppingcenter hvor M fik købt tøj, og derefter kørte vi til Death Valley. DV var også helt fantastisk og smukt, det er lidt sådan som jeg forestiller mig at det døde hav vil se ud når det udtørrer helt - der har nemlig været en saltvandssø som er grunden til at der ligger salt over det hele. Der er rigtig varmt fordi det ligger knap 90 meter under havets overflade.
Efter DV kørte vi mod Fresno, og måtte køre en kæmpe omvej, fordi der ligger bjerge i vejen. På en strækning kom vi ud på grusvej i over en time, fordi vi lige ville skyde genvej, og det kunne man godt mærke at en Mustang ikke er så velegnet til, men den overlevede. I Fresno overnattede vi hos Kelleys forældre inden vi kørte tilbage til SF igår fredag. Ialt fik vi kørt omkring 2000 miles (3200 km) men det har slet ikke føltes som så meget -måske fordi man kører rundt i et stykke legetøj.
I aftes gik vi i parken og drak et par øl, og i dag tog Merete hjem. Det har været en fantastisk tur, vi har nået at se en helt masse, og især hvor forskellig Californien er - både hvad angår natur/landskab og menneskerne. Fra på mandag er min ferie slut - det bliver også godt at komme tilbage til Glide.

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In the weekend, 16 to 17 March SF celebrated St. Patrick's Day, and it's pretty big here. I went out to celebrate it, and thought about what I missed at home - my niece's 1 year birthday and my band Rovers Ahead playing a gig in Copenhagen. In those days I also prepared a little what would happen in the days when Merete, my sister came visit while I was on vacation.
She was here for 10 days and arrived on 21st but was 14 hours late due to Air Canada, so I immediately began to show her around town. It was really good to see her again, and the first 3 days we were in SF and saw the Mission, Castro, Golden Gate Park & Bridge, China Town, Alcatraz, Twin Peaks, Dolores Park, cable car, Telegraph Hill and a drag show. The first night we were at Glide for Men in Progress, the organizer had proposed that I could take Merete in there so she could see what it was and all participants welcomed her. Afterwards we went to a concert with The Aggrolites (reggae band from LA) along with Kelley. The weather was perfect and luckily my bad karma planning period over, so we had managed to see a lot of things. On Sunday, the 24th we went to Glide Church in the morning - it was really unique with speaches, live band, and great atmosphere. It was the first time I was in church, so it was very good to see this part of Glide also.
After Glide we went out and got a car that I had booked, put the top down and drove south on Highway 1 to LA with the sun on your face and the wind in your hair. It's really nice to drive such a car, and especially on the Big Sur which is incredibly beautiful. We saw the sunset over the Pacific Ocean and spent the night at a motel about an hour north of LA. Two of our goals during the trip was to eat at real American diner and live in miserable motel, and this evening we did both.
The next morning we drove to LA and picked up Natasja and Julie (co-students from Copenhagen doing internships in San Diego) and drove to Six Flags. Six Flags is a very crazy amusement park just outside LA, and we spent most of the day, so nice. On the way to LA to drop off the girls we went by Hollywood and met Michael Jackson and Johnny Depp nothing less. Every time we drove around in LA we were lucky that there was traffic jam in the opposite direction - we feared the worst as people talk about how terrible the traffic is in LA. We stayed overnight a few hours from LA on the way to the Grand Canyon, and the following day we drove all the way to GC. It was incredibly beautiful, and again we were lucky with the weather and the timing as when we drove away from Vegas we could see the sunset.
In Vegas we were fortunate to get a reply from a couchsurfer just as we were about to look for motel so we could spend the night at his place on the outskirts of the city. After we had 'checked in' with him we drove into town and went for a walk on the Strip, and drove down Las Vegas Blvd where all their monster hotels with casinos and circus lies, and especially Wedding Chapels. We didn't talk so much with our couchsurfing host, but he was a very experienced CSer, as he had furnished two rooms in his house for guests, and there hung a blackboard where you could write a greeting and we were guest company number 274. From his roof terrace you could see into the LV downtown and you could really get an impression of how they have almost only hotels with casinos, and around that residential areas located in the middle of the desert - very strange city.
The next day we drove down to the Hoover Dam and went for a walk and took pictures. It was interesting to see the new highway bridge finished, when I was here in 2009 and drove past, I took pictures of the half-finished bridge, and the only passage was the dam where there is only one lane in each direction. Now, the original road is used only for tourists to have a look at the dam, but it seems like there is at least as much traffic. After Hoover Dam we drove to the Outlet shopping center where M bought clothes, and then we drove to Death Valley. DV was also fantastic and beautiful, it's a bit as I imagine that the Dead Sea will look like when it dries out completely - it has been a saltwater lake which is why there is salt all over. There's really hot because it is almost 90 meters (282 feet) below sea level.

After DV we drove to Fresno, and had to run a huge detour because there are mountains in the way. At a stretch we came out on the dirt road for over an hour because we just wanted to take a shortcut, and it was clear that a Mustang is not as well suited for that, but it survived. In Fresno we stayed at Kelleys parents before we drove back to SF yesterday Friday. Total we drove about 2000 miles (3200 km) but it didn't feel like that much - maybe because we drove around in a toy.
Last night we went to the park and drank a few beers, and today Merete went home. It has been a fantastic trip, we managed to see a whole lot, and especially how diverse California is - both in terms of nature / landscape and the people. From next Monday my holiday ends - and it'll be good to get back to Glide.

Alcatraz

Alcatraz

Alcatraz

Alcatraz

Alcatraz

Cheesecake Factory

Glide Memorial Church

Glide Memorial Church

Mustang + Coke + Big Sur + sister = happiness

Big Sur

Big Sur

American Diner

American Diner

Six Flags with the girls

Six Flags

Hollywood

Micheal Jackson

Motel, on the way to Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon

On the way to Vegas

Vegas baby !

Circus Circus

Vegas skyline

Hoover Dam

Hoover Dam

Hoover Dam

Death Valley

Death Valley

Death Valley

Death Valley

On the way..

thinking Breaking Bad .. ?

Dolores Park..

..and well equipped

Dårlig planlægningskarma / Poor planning karma

(for english, scroll down)
Nu er der gået lidt tid siden jeg har fået opdateret bloggen så nu må jeg hellere forsikre folket at jeg stadig er i live. Linket til min blog er kommet på skolens hjemmeside, og i skrivende stund er den læst knap 700 gange så nu skal jeg nok passe på hvad jeg skriver.
Jeg har det stadig godt og tiden flyver afsted (kliche, men den er god nok) - kan ikke forstå at jeg har været her i 1½ måned nu. Merete (min søster) kommer og besøger mig om små to uger, fra den 20-30 marts og jeg glæder mig helt vildt, og er igang med at udtænke hvad vi skal lave i løbet af de dage. Jeg har fået godkendt ferie i alle dagene så vi skal bl.a. på en road trip rundt i California.
For et par uger siden var jeg på Treasure Island til loppemarked. TI ligger midt imellem SF og Oakland med Bay Bridge tværs henover. Det er en ret interessant ø, den blev dannet af jorden fra guldminerne der skulle køres væk under the Gold Rush i 1849 - man valgte så at smide jorden i bugten, og pludselig var der en ø. Den blev døbt Treasure Island fordi folk mener, at der stadig er en lille smule guld i jorden. Den var længe brugt som militær base, men blev i 1990erne lavet til normal beboelse. Loppemarkedet var rigtig hyggeligt og jeg fandt en gave til Rakel, min dejlige niece som fylder 1 år i marts.
Selve Bay Bridge er også ret interessant, delen mellem TI og Oakland blev nemlig en smule ødelagt under jordskælvet i 1989 og blev erklæret usikker. Først efter mange år kom de igang med at bygge en ny bro af forskellige årsager, og den vil blive indviet næste år vist nok. Så nu er der to broer med ca 20 meters mellemrum. Det er ret dumt.
Yes, jeg er begyndt at blive ret klog på byen, kan jeg høre I tænker. Jeg har nemlig taget på nogle gratis guidede gåture rundt i byen. De foregår forskellige steder og med forskellige temaer. Den ene omhandlede jordskælvet og brandene i 1906 og den anden var om Russian Hill, Telegraph Hill og en speciel gade med kun trapper og haver (se billeder nedenfor). Det er en rigtig god måde at lære byen at kende på, når man ikke har lyst til at køre rundt i turistdobbeltdækkerbusser.
I sidste weekend var jeg tilfældigt i Dolores Park, og en robot startede en fest med omkring 30 dansende gæster. (se billeder nedenfor) Det er netop den slags ting der gør SF til så fantastisk en by. Samtidig mødte jeg nogle søde mennesker fra bl.a. Denver som jeg drak øl med, købte en ukulele for $20 men da jeg ville prøve at stemme den gik den i stykker, så jeg indså at den nok kun var til pynt. ØV! jeg savner sådan et instrument at spille på. Huset jeg bor i hedder Bonny Music House hvilket er meget misvisende, da jeg vist nok er den eneste musiker, og der findes ikke engang en guitar i huset! Jeg vil se om jeg kan få lavet om på det.
Over en periode har jeg været ramt af en byge af dårlig planlægningskarma. Ofte har det også involveret andre, så jeg håber det snart går over, for det er ved at være ret belastende. Det startede vist en weekend hvor jeg først tog ind for at høre Chris (min housemate) læse sine digte i en bogbutik i Mission sammen med Bri (en anden housemate). Det gik fint nok, selvom vi ikke kom til tiden og ikke hørte de første oplæsere fik vi hørt Chris og et par andre. Derefter ville vi til Berkeley for at mødes med nogle af Chris's venner, der havde en koncert/kunstudstilling kørende. Det tog os et godt stykke tid at komme derhen, og undervejs fik vi at vide af Chris's ven at politiet havde lukket festen pga. naboklager. Da vi kom frem i Berkeley stod vi så bare ude på gaden lidt, snakkede med hans venner og drak af vores brune poser. Dagen efter mødtes jeg med Kelley og tog til Kinøjsernytår i Kinøjsertown - der var vi dog heldige med at se deres vilde optog, men da vi senere ville til en festival på et bryggeri var der allerede lukket da vi kom frem. Øv igen - vi fandt dog en anden koncert vi kunne tage til og nåede at se hele to bands. Så sent som i tirsdags ville jeg have været til en beboerhøring på Bayview politistation (en ting som min vejleder havde henvist mig til, da der planlægges et herberg for hjemløse i Bayview, som er det distrikt jeg bor i) - men jeg kom afsted alt for sent så endte med at tage hjem i stedet, da jeg kunne se at jeg ville komme mindst 40 minutter for sent. Der har sikkert været flere dårlige planlægningskarmaepisoder som jeg har glemt, for jeg føler mig lidt forfulgt af dem - jeg håber de stopper inden Merete kommer herover, for vi skulle gerne nå at se lidt ting mens hun er her..
Der er også lidt kedeligt nyt siden sidst: jeg har været til tandlæge to gange, da der begyndte at gå betændelse ved en tand jeg tidligere har fået rodbehandling i. Jeg fik en rensning og røntgenbillede og eftertjek som i alt blev $330, så det var ret surt - især når min forsikring ikke gælder lige præcis tænder. Til gengæld fik jeg set en amerikansk tandlægeklinik indefra!
I praktikken har jeg fået udarbejdet og godkendt læringsmål, så dem er jeg godt i gang med at fokusere på nu. Der har været meget læsning, research og skrivning på det sidste, da jeg har ventet på at kunne blive oprettet i deres computersystem for at kunne servicere brugere i WiC - på den måde er Glide lidt dumt skruet sammen, således at én person er ansvarlig for én ting, og når personen er på ferie går den ting bare i stå. Af samme grund har jeg først fået nøgler til kontorerne nu. Der har været en spændende debat på Glide den sidste uges tid efter disse artikler kom frem. Den første artikel er skrevet af en social worker i Tenderloin (hvor Glide også ligger) og denne artikel er skrevet af en anden social worker som modsvar på den forrige. Derfor er der opstået debat om menneskesyn og etikken i socialt arbejde som jeg synes er rigtig spændende. (god inspiration til pæd. medstuderende) Glide er i hvert fald rigtig spændende, gør en masse godt for dets brugere kan man mærke, hvilket giver en selv motivation.
Jeg håber DK har det godt, og i er ved at få lidt forår :-)

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It's been a while since I have updated the blog so now I better assure people that I am still alive. The link to my blog has been put on the school website, and in this moment it's been read 700 times so now I'll be careful what I write.
I'm still good and time flies (cliche, but it is so true) - it's hard to believe that I have been here for 1 ½ months now. Merete (my sister) will visit me in less than two weeks, from March 20 to 30 and I'm really looking forward, and started to think what to do during the days. I have been approved holiday all of those days so we will also do a road trip around California.
A couple weeks ago I was on Treasure Island to flea market. TI lies midway between SF and Oakland with Bay Bridge crossing it. It is a very interesting island, it was formed of the soil from the gold mines that had to be removed during the Gold Rush in 1849 - they chose to throw the soil into the bay, and suddenly there was an island. It was named Treasure Island because people believed that there was still a tiny bit of gold in the soil. It was long used as a military base, but in the 1990s made ​​for normal habitation. The flea market was really nice and I found a present to Rakel, my lovely niece who turns one years in March.
The Bay Bridge is also quite interesting, the part between TI and Oakland was in fact damaged a little during the earthquake in 1989 and was declared unsafe. Only after many years, for some reason, they started to build a new bridge, and it will be inaugurated next year probably. So now there are two bridges approximately 20 meters apart. It's pretty stupid.
Yep, I'm starting to get quite clever on town, I can hear you think. I have joined some free guided walking tours around the city. They are in different places and with different themes. One theme was the earthquake and fires in 1906 and the second was on Russian Hill, Telegraph Hill and a special street with only stairs and gardens (see pictures below). It's a great way to learn about the city when you don't want to hop on the tourist double-decker buses.
Last weekend I was randomly in Dolores Park, and a robot started a party with about 30 dancing guests. (see pictures below) This is exactly the kind of thing that makes SF so great a city. At the same time, I met some nice people from particular Denver which I had beer with, bought a ukulele for $ 20 but when I would try to tune it went to pieces, so I realized that it probably was only for show. SIGH! I miss an instrument to play so bad. The house I live in is called Bonny Music House which is very misleading, as I'm probably the only musician, and there is not even a guitar in the house! I will see if I can change that.
Over a period of time I've been hit by a flurry of poor planning karma. Often, it also involved others, so I hope it will soon pass, cause it's becoming quite stressful. I guess it started in a weekend where I first went in to hear Chris (my housemate) read his poems in a bookshop in Mission together with Bri (another housemate). It went well enough, though we did not come in time and did not hear the first poets, but we heard Chris and a few others. Then we went to Berkeley to meet with some of Chris's friends who had a concert / art exhibition running. It took us quite a while to get there, and on the way Chris's friend informed us that the police had closed the party because of neighbor complaints. When we arrived in Berkeley we stood just out on the street a bit, talked to his friends and drank from our brown bags. The day after I met with Kelley and went to Chinese New Year parade in Chinesetown - there we were, however, fortunate to see their wild outfits, but when we later would go to a festival at a brewery it was already closed when we arrived. Sigh again - but we found, however, another concert we could go to and managed to see two bands. As late as Tuesday I planned to go to a public hearing at the Bayview police station (a thing that my supervisor had referred me to, they're planning a homeless shelter in Bayview, which is the district I ​​live in) - but I was running late so I ended up going home instead, because I could see that I would be at least 40 minutes late. There was probably other bad planning karma episodes which I have forgotten, cause I feel a little persecuted by them - I hope they stop before Merete's coming over as we would like to actually see a couple things while she's here.
There is also a little boring news: I've been to the dentist twice since in infection began in a tooth I have had root canal in. I got a deep cleaning and x-ray and after checking that total was $ 330, so it was quite annoying - especially when my insurance does not cover exactly teeth. On the other hand, I've now seen an American dental clinic from the inside!
In the internship, I have prepared and gotten approved my learning agreement, so I've started to focus on that now. There has been much reading, research and writing lately, as I have been waiting to be set up in their computer system to be able to see clients in WiC - the way Glide works sometimes is that one person is in charge for one thing, and when the person is on vacation you'll have to wait for that. For the same reason I only just got keys to the offices now. There has been an interesting debate in Glide the last week or so after these articles appeared. The first article written by a social worker in the Tenderloin (where Glide's also located) and this article is written by another social worker in response to the previous one. This raises debate about human ethics of social work which I think is really interesting. Glide is an interesting place, you can tell they provide good services to the clients which gives you motivation.

Around Russian Hill - street of stars and gardens

skull tattoo + bald spot + growing out hair = awesome